ABUSE TRACKER

IRELAND
Health Service Executive

Thursday 11 October 2012

Today, (Thursday, 11th October 2012), the Diocesan Audit Report of the safeguarding arrangements in the Catholic Diocese in Ireland was published by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald T.D.

The audit was originally commissioned by Minister Lenihan in 2005 and presented to Minister Fitzgerald in August 2012.

The audit was carried out by the HSE in the 24 Catholic Dioceses in the Republic of Ireland. It examined 579 allegations in relation to 189 priests, 39 of whom were priests in Ministry at the time an allegation was made. There were 31 criminal convictions. The Diocesan Audit Report covers all known allegations, and was not confined to the time frames applied in previous commissions of enquiry or review where cases from 1975 onwards were reviewed. This audit is a chronological review up November 30th, 2011.

The audit identified a number of issues of historical poor practice in the Dioceses similar to other reports including;
Poor management and record keeping in some instances
Enquiries where there was a reasonable concern regarding an allegation of sexual abuse, which were protracted or inconclusive
Failure to take precautions in relation to known offenders
Lack of recognition of abuse as a serious criminal offence
A desire to protect reputation without recognising the paramount need to protect children
Removal of priests from parishes but not from direct contact with children, failure to understand the psychological damage resulting from abuse
Failure to educate priests about the impact of abuse and also considerations of Canon and Civil Law.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has recommended that the State intervene and work with all Catholic dioceses in the Republic to ensure children are properly protected in each.

It recommends “that the State applies its resources to intervene and work with all dioceses in a systematic way to address the shortcomings outlined” in an audit it published this afternoon.

The Audit of Safeguarding Arrangements in the Catholic Church in Ireland, deals with 24 Catholic dioceses which, wholly or in part, are in the Republic. Two further Catholic dioceses are entirely in Northern Ireland.

Today’s publication is Volume I of the audit. Another volume, dealing with the religious congregations, will be published at a later date.

Covering the period to the end of November 2011, it found “significant weaknesses” in a number of dioceses in the State in the area of child protection.

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CALIFORNIA
Orange County Weekly

By Gustavo Arellano
Thu., Oct. 11 2012

Yesterday, the California Supreme Court ordered that the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles comply with a settlement and release the secret personnel files of 25 pedo-priests within its ranks. So why should we care in Orange County about what happens in that Sodom? Because three of the priests served in OC, and one of them just happens to be Eleuterio Ramos, the most notorious pedo-priest to ever terrorize our fair land.

The other two OC priests named–James Ford and Lynn Caffoe–didn’t spend many years in Orange County but had allegations lodged against them during their time here.

I’ll have to go into the wayback machine to remember how much of a monster Ford was, but in Caffoe’s case, this is what I wrote back in 2005:

His report shows parents at St. Callistus in Garden Grove complained in 1975 that Caffoe committed “a boundary violation” with altar boys. Officials transferred Caffoe to Los Angeles, where fellow priests found an undated videotape of Caffoe engaging in “improper behavior with several high school boys.” A complaint was also lodged with the Huntington Beach Police Department in 1994. Detectives never followed up. Caffoe’s whereabouts are unknown.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Stuart Rintoul
From:The Australian
October 12, 2012

THE nation’s most powerful Catholic, George Pell, says a claim that he was present when a boy raped by a Christian Brother in regional Victoria described the incident to another priest is a “false and seriously misleading allegation” and that he was not in Australia at the time.

Responding to a submission by lawyer Vivian Waller to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the handling of alleged criminal abuse of children by religious and other organisations, Cardinal Pell, the Archbishop of Sydney, said he was studying at Oxford at the time of the alleged incident.

A statement issued by the archdiocese of Sydney said: “The claims made in relation to Cardinal Pell in a submission to the inquiry by Waller Legal are irresponsible, untrue and are absolutely rejected.

“These are the facts. The Cardinal was ordained a priest in 1966 in Rome, he continued his studies and then travelled to Oxford to study for his doctorate. Cardinal Pell was studying at Oxford in 1969 and was not a priest appointed in the Diocese of Ballarat at the time alleged in Dr Waller’s submission.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Catholic News

By: Ellen Teague

Posted: Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Around 400 people attended yesterday’s second meeting of the movement ‘A Call to Action’, which is fostering dialogue about the future direction of the Church and Church renewal in Britain. The organisers were “overwhelmed” by the attendance, which forced the gathering out of Heythrop College in Kensington and into nearby St Mary Abbots Church. Nearly every diocese of England and Wales was represented and priests, religious and laity were all there in good numbers.

The initiative started off in June when seven priests – Ian Byrnes, John Lally, Patrick McLaughlin, Frank Nally, Derek Reeve, Joe Ryan and Paul Sanders – wrote to The Tablet, calling for a more active encouragement of lay people in the work of the Church, and expressing concern that the call for collegiality made by Vatican II has not been realised. The first open meeting they organised on 18 July attracted 70 Catholic priests and deacons who shared concerns and discussed the future of the Church. In advance of the second meeting, some organisers had met with Archbishop Vincent Nichols at what was described as a “very good meeting”. Fr Joe Ryan of Westminster Diocese reported that “he agreed that something needs to be done” and “will observe our movement”.

Yesterday, four speakers addressed themes in the Vatican II document, ‘Gaudium et Spes’, and its legacy for us today. Retired headteacher Chris McDonnell regretted that today’s Church “tends to look backwards rather than forwards”. There is significant distance between the laity and the hierarchy, he said, and lack of appreciation of how the imposition of the new liturgy has disappointed laity. He suggested that young people see hypocrisy in the Church, where, for example, former Anglicans can be married priests but not cradle Catholics. He asked: “How do we make our Church the Church of our children?”

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AUSTRALIA
3AW

Posted by: Neil Mitchell | 11 October, 2012

Today the Catholic Church is in disgrace.

Not for what it did years ago, but for what it is doing now. Today, and as recently as three years ago.

Today it is alleged by Victoria Police that the Church is presiding over a culture of secrecy and institutional dishonesty that is frustrating and side stepping the law, and aggravating the pain of victims abused by priests.

The Church itself is worsening the abuse, and there is more to come.

Many, many more cases and many more victims are yet to come forward. And they are recent – not 80-year-old men and women – recent abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
3AW

Posted by: Derryn Hinch | 11 October, 2012

The worst thing about the Victoria Police exposure of the Catholic Church’s deliberate and dedicated decades-long cover-up of sexual assaults on children by priests, is that it doesn’t surprise me. Not for a minute.

Even though it almost makes the gorge rise in the throat and makes me want to scream at everybody – at so-called church leaders, at some of the cops, and past governments – makes me want to shout: ‘What took you so frigging long?’

How many more innocent children have suffered at the hands of predatory priests because of systemic stonewalling and covering up and pervert protection in the name of God?

Catholic leaders are trotting out again. Same old pious bullshit. ‘We’re shocked and amazed by these latest allegations. Had no idea any of this was going on’. After all, remember, they haven’t reported to Police even one case of a priest sexually assaulting a child. Not one. They admit that in the past 14 years they’ve paid money to 300 victims. Hush money.

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CANADA
Times Colonist

By Jeff Bell, Times Colonist October 11, 2012

The court case for Philip Jacobs, charged with sexual offences involving children while serving as a Catholic priest in Victoria, begins today in B.C. Supreme Court with a voir dire.

A voir dire, frequently described as “a trial within a trial,” is held to determine the admissibility of certain evidence during a trial. The voir dire in the Jacobs case is expected to last up to four days, after which Justice Miriam Gropper will rule on how the trial will proceed.

Defence counsel Chris Considine and Crown attorney Clare Jennings spent the first part of this week discussing procedural matters with Gropper.

Jacobs, a tall, balding man in his early 60s, sat through the proceedings Wednesday. The charges he is facing come from his time as parish priest at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church from 1998 to 2002, which followed two years at St. Rose of Lima in Sooke.

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AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

Alex White, Anne Wright
From:Herald Sun
October 11, 2012

A LEADING victims’ lawyer has urged police to take action against church figures they say have actively obstructed their investigations into sex abuse by priests.

Victims’ advocate Bryan Keon-Cohen, QC, yesterday criticised police for failing to act after the force accused the Catholic Church of deliberately impeding investigations into child abuse.

The top QC said the report to a parliamentary inquiry – signed off by Chief Commissioner Ken Lay – raised questions as to why police had not acted earlier.

“Why have they not pursued this and why are they sitting on their hands?” he asked.

“It is very significant for police to say this, but have investigations been undertaken of church officials for aiding and abetting a paedophile?

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AUSTRALIA
WA Today

October 12, 2012

Barney Zwartz

Defence of the church, rather than victims, is the priority for clerics.

PETER Mahon, the extremely influential public relations expert who handles media strategy for the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, once stood on the steps of St Patrick’s Cathedral and asked me if I really thought the church wanted to further damage victims of clergy sexual abuse after what they had already gone through.

It was an interesting tactic, designed (I think) to reshape the public conversation, but also misleading. Of course I don’t think Archbishop Denis Hart or the Vatican want to cause further pain and trauma – but, the pain and trauma having already occurred, they have several conflicting agendas in which the defence, even preservation, of the institutional church is top priority.

I don’t think the manufacturers of thalidomide actively wanted to deform babies in the womb either, but the history of recklessness followed by cover-up, damage control and attempts to evade its responsibilities to victims are instructive. Sadly, it’s a natural human reaction.

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NEDERLAND
Trouw

Jeugdzorg komt wel erg makkelijk weg met seksueel misbruik. De rooms-katholieke kerk kon wat politici betreft niet diep genoeg door het stof gaan, kritiseert de commissie Seksueel Misbruik van het bisdom Haarlem-Amsterdam. .

Op de website van het bisdom beschrijft lid Eric Fennis namens die commissie hoe de directeur van Jeugdzorg ‘met ontroering in haar stem’ excuses aanbood namens alle medewerkers.

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NEDERLAND
ND

De commissie-Deetman, die onderzoek deed naar seksueel misbruik in de katholieke kerk, roept de slachtoffers op zich nogmaals te melden. Mogelijk kan een nieuwe verklaring van de slachtoffers dienen als bewijs in andere zaken. De inmiddels opgeheven commissie mag deze gegevens niet zelf verstrekken.

Aanleiding voor de oproep van voormalig commissievoorzitter Wim Deetman is het gestegen aantal klachten van slachtoffers bij het onafhankelijke meldpunt voor misbruik in de rooms-katholieke kerk. Omdat het misbruik vaak gebeurde zonder verdere getuigen zijn meldingen van andere slachtoffers over een dader vaak cruciaal.

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IRELAND
Galway Advertiser

An Athenry cleric who was placed under investigation and silenced by the Vatican earlier this year for his outspoken views is now being put under further pressure to sign retraction documents.

In April of this year the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), which represents more than 800 priests, came out in support of founding member Fr Tony Flannery and branded his forced silencing by the Vatican as “ill-advised” and “unfair”. The group issued the statement of solidarity after Fr Flannery was placed under investigation by the Vatican because of his outspoken views. The Vatican also ordered the discontinuation of Fr Flannery’s column in the religious magazine Reality, a column which he has written for 14 years.

According to reports this week, the Redemptorist cleric is now facing a new challenge. It is understood he has been contacted by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and given documents to sign demanding his retraction on a certain number of his liberal views. These include his views on the campaign for women’s ordination and married priests, a complete re-think on contraception, and on what he views as the harsh and insensitive language used by the Church in its teaching on homosexuality. Reports also suggest that Fr Flannery may have been singled out because of his support of Taoiseach Enda Kenny who critised the Vatican following the release of the Cloyne Report.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on October 10, 2012

A huge decision is expected today from the California Supreme Court regarding the confidential abuse and cover-up files of 25 known offending priests. The priests were a part of the 2007 $660 million LA Archdiocese settlement with more than 500 victims of child sexual abuse.

The archdiocese and Cardinal Mahony agreed to turn over the files as a part of the settlement. They have spent the past 5 years fighting that agreement.

If victims win the decision, the trial court order requires files to be released immediately. Kudos to victims’ attorney Anthony DeMarco, who has continued fighting for the non-monetary demands of victims – demands far more important than the money. The archdiocese showed its hand – they were more than happy to pay the settlement, but when it came to real accountability, they have played hardball for five years in the hopes of going back on their legal agreement.

Here are the names of the priests whose files must be turned over if victims win the decision:
1.Michael Buckley
2.Santiago Tamayo
3.Kevin Barmasse
4.Angel Cruces
5.Donald Patrick Roemer
6.Peter Garcia
7.Cristobal Garcia
8.Lawrence Lovell
9.John Salazar
10.Matthew Sprouffske
11.Lynn Cafoe
12.Michael Baker
13.John Dawson
14.Gerald Fessard
15.Michael Wempe
16.Carlos Rene Rodriguez
17.James Ford
18.Richard Allen Henry
19.Michael Nocita
20.Luis Jaramillo
21.George Neville Rucker
22.George Miller
23.Eleuterio Ramos
24.Benjamin Hawkes
25.Fidencio Silva

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NEVADA
SNAP Wisconsin

October 11, 2012

Second landmark fraud trial against Green Bay Diocese underway in Nevada
Case involves notorious sex predator priest Fr. John Patrick Feeney
Las Vegas jury likely to examine new evidence not seen during landmark Wisconsin trial

Statement by John Pilmaier, SNAP Wisconsin Director
CONTACT: 414.336.8575

The Diocese of Green Bay is on trial this week in Las Vegas Nevada charged with negligence and fraud. This is the second time this year that the Green Bay diocese will appear in court charged with knowingly endangering children by exposing them to their most notorious sex offending priest, Fr. John Patrick Feeney.

The civil trial, which began this week, originated with a lawsuit filed in 2008 by John Doe 119 who reports that he was sexually assaulted as a 13 year old boy by Fr. Feeney when he was a student at St. Francis de Sales parish in Las Vegas. The suit which charges the Green Bay Catholic Diocese with fraud and negligence also names the Bishop of Las Vegas, the Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas and John Patrick Feeney as defendants.

Church officials in Green Bay Wisconsin attempted to have Doe’s lawsuit thrown out of court due to the statutes of limitations, however in 2010 the Nevada Supreme Court, in a landmark decision, ruled that Doe’s case could proceed.

Attorneys for the victim are expected to demonstrate in court this week that the Green Bay Diocese was aware that Fr. Feeney was a dangerous sexual predator long before they allowed him to function as a priest in Las Vegas.

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VATICAN CITY
WTOP

Thursday – 10/11/2012

VATICAN CITY (AP) – The superior general of the troubled Legion of Christ religious order has stepped aside unexpectedly, saying he simply doesn’t have the energy to oversee the radical reform of the congregation ordered by the Vatican.

The Rev. Alvaro Corcuera said in a letter obtained Thursday that his vicar general, the Rev. Sylvester Heereman, would run the order until a planned general assembly 2013 or 2014 to elect a new superior. Corcuera retains his title, but no longer will run the order.

The legion has been in turmoil ever since it acknowledged in 2009 that its founder, the late Rev. Marcial Maciel, sexually abused seminarians and fathered three children. The Vatican took it over in 2010.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher

(Article updated 23 July 2012)

Broken Rites Australia has researched a paedophile priest, Father Ronald Dennis Pickering, who was harboured in the Melbourne Catholic archdiocese for 36 years, while he committed sexual crimes against many boys in his parishes. Certain colleagues (including within the church hierarchy) knew about Pickering’s criminal behaviour but they discreetly remained silent.

When Broken Rites established its Australia-wide telephone hotline in late 1993, one of the first calls received was about Father Pickering. Broken Rites advised this caller (and also some subsequent callers) about strategies to obtain justice regarding Pickering’s abuse.

Some victims consulted the Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (SOCA) unit of the Victoria Police about Pickering.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher

(Article updated 18 April 2012)

Broken Rites research has revealed how the Catholic Church authorities harboured Father Paul David Ryan, a sexually abusive Australian priest. This cover-up should be investigated by a public inquiry.

When Ryan was charged (and convicted) in an Australian criminal court, Broken Rites examined the prosecution file. This article is based on that research, plus numerous Broken Rites interviews.

Ryan has admitted guilt.

One of his Australian victims ended up committing suicide — and this boy’s mother (Mrs Helen Watson) has finally forced the church to apologise.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher

One of Australia’s most prolific child-abuse criminals, Father Kevin O’Donnell, was protected in the Melbourne Catholic archdiocese for fifty years. In his final years, he even received public praise from one of his superiors, Auxiliary Bishop George Pell.

O’Donnell is dead but his numerous victims — and their families — still bear the scars of his crimes.

Father Kevin O’Donnell was a child abuser from 1942 to 1992. He fitted Masses, weddings and funerals in between his sex-abuse activities.

The Catholic Church now admits that O’Donnell was a child-abuser from day one. Broken Rites has seen a typed transcript of an interview that Mr Peter O’Callaghan QC (sex-abuse commissioner for the Melbourne archdiocese) had with an O’Donnell victim on 23 March 2003. In the transcript, Mr O’Callaghan commented that O’Donnell was engaged in sex abuse from the time he was ordained — and (said Mr O’Callaghan) he did it in every parish he was in.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher

Why did Bishop George Pell accompany Father Gerald Francis Ridsdale to court on 27 May 1993 when Ridsdale was jailed for child-sex crimes? And why did no bishop, or even a priest, accompany the victims?

Father Ridsdale (with his features obscured by dark glasses and a cap) walked to the Melbourne Magistrates Court with his support person, Bishop Pell (wearing clerical garb).

That evening, Channel Nine’s news bulletin showed footage of Father Ridsdale and Bishop Pell arriving at the court. This bulletin was viewed throughout the state of Victoria, including by many church-abuse victims. Viewers noticed that a bishop was accompanying the criminal priest, rather than accompanying the victims.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org – Assignment Record

Summary of Case: A New England Province Brother of the Sacred Heart, Beaulieu admitted to molesting at least 20 students over a 20-year period at Bishop Guertin High School and at Camp Fatima in New Hampshire. He also admitted to abusing a 15-year-old boy at Sacred Heart Prep School in Harrisville, Rhode Island in 1971. The matter was reported at the time to then-principal Leo Labbe – since himself accused of child rape – and then-Provincial Superior Ronald Dupuis. Beaulieu was transferred to a Sacred Heart Brothers’ retirement home in Rhode Island in 1990

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WASHINGTON
NWCN

by Associated Press & KREM.com

Posted on October 10, 2012

SPOKANE — The Catholic Diocese of Spokane is suing its own lawyers for mishandling a bankruptcy case that arose from lawsuits over clergy sex abuse.

The malpractice lawsuit was filed this week and seeks more than $12 million from the Spokane law firm Paine Hamblen Coffin Brooke and Miller.

The Diocese said in court documents that its bankruptcy lawyers failed to explore other means of ending the abuse scandal. It also blames the lawyers for writing a bankruptcy plan that failed to adequately fund the risk of new claims.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Star

11th October 2012

By Emily Hall

SIR Jimmy Savile tried to grope a young royal during his 40-year reign of perversion, it was claimed last night.

DJ David Hamilton told how Savile made a beeline for the Countess of Wessex when she was a young PR at London’s Capital Radio.

Prince Edward’s wife-to-be, Sophie Rhys-Jones as she was then, had been hand-picked to meet the former Top Of The Pops presenter as he joined Capital Gold in 1990. ,,,

Last night Royal Armouries International, who own Savile’s Hall at Clarence Dock in the DJ’s home city of Leeds, said it too would ditch the name “out of respect for public opinion”.

And the Catholic church also turned its back on him.

Insiders say they are considering stripping Savile of a Papal knighthood he was granted by Pope John Paul II in 1990. A spokesman said: “It may have to be reviewed.”

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VATICAN CITY
Fox News

Associated Press

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday marked the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council — the church meetings he attended as a young priest that brought the Catholic Church into the modern world but whose true meaning is still hotly debated.

Benedict celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Square, attended by patriarchs, cardinals, bishops and a dozen elderly churchmen who participated in the council, and later will greet the faithful re-enacting the great procession into St. Peter’s that launched the council in 1962.

In his homily, Benedict urged the faithful to return to the “letter” and “authentic spirit” of the council found in the Vatican II documents themselves, rather than rely on the distorted spirit promoted by those who saw in Vatican II a radical reform away from the church’s tradition.

“The council did not formulate anything new in matters of faith, nor did it wish to replace what was ancient,” Benedict said from the steps of St. Peter’s. “Rather, it concerned itself with seeing that the same faith might continue to be lived in the present day, that it might remain a living faith in a world of change.”

The anniversary comes as the church is fighting what it sees as a wave of secularism erasing the Christian heritage of the West and competition for souls from rival evangelical churches in Latin America and Africa. Clerical sex abuse scandals, debates over celibacy for priests, open dissent among some priests in Europe and a recent Vatican crackdown on liberal nuns in the United States have also contributed to erode the church’s place in the world.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with audio]

Updated Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:27am AEDT

A Melbourne lawyer’s submission to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse alleges that in the 1960s George Pell was in the room when a young boy told another priest he had been raped. The Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney says Cardinal Pell has stated several times he will appear at the inquiry if he is asked to do so.

Samantha Donovan

Transcript

TONY EASTLEY: It’s possible that Australia’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, will be called to give evidence at the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse.

In her submission Melbourne lawyer Viv Waller has told the inquiry that in the 1960s George Pell heard a young boy tell another priest he’d been raped by a Christian Brother.

Dr Waller is speaking here with AM’s Samantha Donovan.

VIV WALLER: I’ve been working in this field for a very long time and I’m quite familiar with the fact that a lot of victims of sexual abuse have had difficulty having their complaints dealt with appropriately.

And I’m instructed by one of my clients that in 1969 he went to the local presbytery at Ballarat East attached to a church called St Alipius and he asked to speak to George Pell. And George Pell was there and refused to see him but was present in the room when he was speaking to another priest and he reported that he had been raped by Robert Charles Best who was a Christian Brother working at that school.

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

October 11, 2012

Barney Zwartz

Claims that Cardinal George Pell was present when a boy described being raped by a Christian Brother were “irresponsible, untrue and are absolutely denied”, the cardinal said this afternoon.

The allegations by Melbourne lawyer Vivian Waller, who is acting for more than 70 victims of abuse by Christian Brothers, were widely reported today.

Dr Waller said in a submission to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into how churches handled sex abuse that Brother Robert Best raped the boy at St Alipius school in Ballarat.

She said the boy went back to class distressed and was beaten by his teacher until he withdrew the claim.

Later, believing a priest could help him, the boy had asked to speak to the then Father Pell, who had refused to see him, but Father Pell had been present when the victim told another priest what happened, it is claimed.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

THE Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney has rejected an allegation that Cardinal George Pell was present when an abuse claim was made against a now-jailed Christian Brother.

The Victorian government’s inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations has been told Cardinal Pell was present when a grade three student at a Ballarat school in the 1960s described to another priest what happened to him.

But the Archdiocese of Sydney released a statement on Thursday saying the claims are “irresponsible, untrue and are absolutely rejected”.

“As Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Pell does not usually comment on religious life in Victoria and does not plan to comment on the activities of the Victorian parliamentary inquiry,” the statement said.

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AUSTRALIA
Christian Today

Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne

Thursday, 11 October 2012, 9:10 (EST)

The Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, today announced that the Catholic Church in Victoria supported extending mandatory reporting under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 to ministers of religion and other religious personnel, and the reporting of child abuse to police.

Archbishop Hart was speaking on behalf of the leaders of the Catholic Church in Victoria, following the publication by the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and other Non-Government Organisations of the Catholic Church in Victoria’s submission, Facing the Truth.

“In Facing the Truth the Church supports the extension of mandatory reporting of cases of suspected child abuse to ministers of religion and other religious personnel, with an exemption for information received during the rite of confession. It also proposes a mechanism for reporting child abuse to police while protecting the victim’s right to privacy,” he said.

Mandatory reporters include doctors, nurses, teachers and police. No additional professions have been added since the introduction of the Children, Youth and Families Act in 1993.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

Legal and human rights groups say religious organisations and employees must be subject to the same laws as everyone else.

Legal and human rights groups want the legal protection of the Catholic Church to be changed so it can be sued by victims of sexual abuse.

Groups including the Law Institute of Victoria (LIV), Liberty Victoria and Ryan Carlisle Thomas Lawyers say religious organisations are typically unincorporated associations that cannot be sued.

In submissions to the Victorian government’s inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations, the groups say religious organisations, including the Catholic Church, are able to avoid liability through organisational and corporate structures.

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AUSTRALIA
3AW

[with audio]

Posted by: Ellen Feely | 11 October, 2012

A spokesperson for the Catholic Church says anyone who impedes Police should be punished, after Victoria Police made a damning submission to a parliamentary inquiry which indicated the Church was actively hindering investigations.

Priest of the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat, and parish priest of St Michael’s in Bungaree, Father Shane Mackinlay told Neil Mitchell the Church encouraged anyone accused of deliberately obstructing investigations to face the law.

“Certainly if you’re doing that (impeding investigations) for benefit, that’s a criminal offence and we would encourage any of those situations to be prosecuted,” he said.

Father Mackinlay admitted the Catholic Church’s culture had previously been one of secrecy and resistance to acknowledging incidences of child abuse, but the rate of pedophilia occurring within the organisation was comparable to the rest of society.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times

By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times

October 10, 2012

Personnel files of Los Angeles Archdiocese Roman Catholic priests accused of sexual molestation will be released to the public within the next few months, an archdiocese lawyer said Wednesday.

The release follows a decision by the California Supreme Court on Wednesday to deny an attempt by individual priests to keep the records private.

J. Michael Hennigan, an attorney for the archdiocese, said the church agreed as part of a 2006 settlement to release the personnel files of several dozen accused priests. The archdiocese paid $660 million to settle more than 500 lawsuits filed by people who said they had been sexually abused by priests.

“We have already selected the documents that are going to be released, gone through a process of redacting innocent names and we need a court order” signing off on the release of the documents, Hennigan said.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video]

The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, has denied allegations he refused to speak to a child who had been raped by a Catholic school principal in the 1960s.

A Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child sexual abuse claims has heard Cardinal Pell would not speak to a child who had been raped by paedophile priest Robert Charles Best in 1969.

A submission from lawyer Vivian Waller alleged the child was abused by the principal of St Alipius Parish School in Ballarat.

“In 1969, he went to the local presbytery at Ballarat East attached to a church called St Alipius and he asked to speak to George Pell,” Dr Waller said.

“George Pell was there and refused to see him but was present in the room when he reported to another priest that he had been raped.”

In a statement, Cardinal Pell rejects the contents of Dr Waller’s submission, saying he was never present when any sexual abuse claims were levelled at Best.

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AUSTRALIA
Perth Now

By Melissa Iaria and Charisse Ede
From: AAP
October 11, 2012

THE Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney has rejected an allegation that Cardinal George Pell was present when an abuse claim was made against a now jailed Christian Brother.

The rejection came as the Catholic Church denied police claims that it hides pedophile priests and talks victims out of reporting sexual abuse, saying many victims chose not to tell police.

The Victorian government’s inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations has been told Cardinal Pell was present when a grade three student at a Ballarat school in the 1960s described to another priest what happened to him.

But the Archdiocese of Sydney released a statement on Thursday saying the claims are “irresponsible, untrue and are absolutely rejected”.

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AUSTRALIA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney

Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
11 Oct 2012

Cardinal George Pell was not even in the country during the timeline a submission to the Victorian Inquiry into child abuse highlights.

He was never present when allegations were made against a Christian Brother referred to in the submission to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Alleged Criminal Abuse of Children by Religious and Other Organisations by Waller Legal.

The submission, made by Dr Vivian Waller, makes the false and unsubstantiated allegations which have been repeated by media organisations around the country.

It is not clear why the facts were not checked before the submission was provided to the Inquiry as they are easily available.

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AUSTRALIA
Catholic Culture

October 11, 2012

Cardinal George Pell of Sydney has denied sex-abuse attorney Vivian Waller’s claim that he refused to listen to a third-grader’s 1969 claim that he had been abused by Christian Brother Robert Charles Best.

Waller made her claim in a submission to the Victoria state government’s inquiry into alleged sexual abuse by clergy. Best is serving a 14-year prison sentence on 27 counts of sexual abuse against 11 boys.

“Factual errors in the submission to the Inquiry made by Dr. Waller of Waller Legal, relating to Cardinal Pell’s presence in the Diocese of Ballarat in 1969, have been repeated by media outlets across the country,” the Archdiocese of Sydney said in a statement.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Alan Howe
From:Herald Sun
October 12, 2012

THESE are days of shame for the Catholic Church in Australia.

Rather than operate as a respected religious institution, the church’s response to its deadly infestation of bisexual paedophiles has been to act like gangsters: covering up evidence, hiding criminals, possibly aiding the destruction of evidence, threatening victims and failing to tell the truth about its actions.

It has obstructed justice.

Meanwhile, it has sought the professional guidance of the best legal minds in the city and hired expensive public relations consultants.

Only the best will do for the Catholic Church when it comes to trying to protect its reputation.

As it turns out, the church has wasted its money. Thanks to the diligence and brave honesty of Victoria Police, the truth is out.

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MICHIGAN
Hometown Life

Written by
Ken Abramczyk
Observer Staff Writer

A retired priest who assisted with services at Our Lady of Sorrows church was placed on administrative leave on Friday after the Archdiocese of Detroit “deemed substantive” two allegations of sexual misconduct involving two minors.

The Rev. Loren O’Dea, 83, of Waterford was placed on leave and restricted from any public ministry. The allegations date back just prior to O’Dea’s ordination in 1993, before he was an associate pastor at Our Lady of Sorrows, according to the archdiocese.

Information about the allegations, which was received in recent weeks, was turned over to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

ABCUpdated October 11, 2012

A submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Clergy Sex Abuse alleges the head of the Australian Catholic Church refused to speak with a child who had been raped.

Lawyer Vivian Waller says in 1969, her client attempted to tell Cardinal George Pell he had been abused by the principal of St Alipius Parish School in Ballarat, in central Victoria.

Cardinal Pell was a parish priest at the time.

Dr Waller alleges Cardinal Pell, who was an Archbishop at the time, refused to speak with the victim, but was in the room when the rape was detailed.

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CANADA
Hamilton Spectator

Nearly six months after a priest facing a sexual assault charge was permitted to return to his native Brazil in a controversial Crown deal, the Ministry of the Attorney General continues to investigate the circumstances.

Ministry spokesperson Brendan Crawley told The Spectator recently that the controversial deal that permitted Reverend Jose Silva to return to Brazil and escape prosecution last May is still being investigated.

At the time, Crawley acknowledged that the deal crafted by defence counsel Dean Paquette and assistant Crown attorney Carey Lee was “not common practice” and would be the subject of a ministry probe.

Silva, a guest priest at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, was charged with one count of sexual assault Sept. 22, 2011, after a complaint by an 18-year-old musician.

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CHILE
Pagina12

Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernández, de 47 años, presentó la renuncia el lunes a la noche y ayer le fue aceptada. Está acusado de haber mantenido, diez años atrás, una relación con un adolescente de 15 años. La Conferencia Episcopal se declaró “estremecida”.

El papa Benedicto XVI aceptó la renuncia del obispo chileno de Iquique, Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernández, de 47 años, sospechado de abusos sexuales contra adolescentes. La Iglesia local se declaró estremecida y conmovida por la dimisión del obispo, primero de su jerarquía en ser investigado en ese país por corrupción de menores, un caso que se suma a una veintena de sacerdotes ya condenados por delitos similares.

Según un breve comunicado del Vaticano, el prelado presentó su dimisión “en virtud del artículo 401-2 del Código de Derecho canónico”. Este artículo se refiere a una dimisión “por razones de salud o por otra causa grave”.

En abril de este año, la Iglesia Católica había iniciado una investigación sobre acusaciones de pedofilia en contra de Ordenes Fernández, el más joven de los obispos de la Conferencia Episcopal chilena. La investigación estaba a cargo del nuncio apostólico en Santiago, Ivo Scapolo, quien se había reunido recientemente con Ordenes Fernández. Dos días antes del anuncio oficial de su dimisión, el prelado había reconocido en una entrevista con la prensa chilena haber tenido una actitud “imprudente” contra la persona que lo acusa, pero negó que éste fuese menor en el momento de los hechos.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.comtwincities.com
Posted: 10/10/2012

An Oakdale priest facing charges of sexually abusing two boys and possessing child pornography appeared in court Wednesday, Oct. 10, with his attorney.

Curtis Carl Wehmeyer, 48, formerly pastor of Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul, is out of custody. Ramsey County District Judge J. Thomas Mott ordered him to have no contact with the two boys he allegedly molested, or with other juvenile males.

If he violates that order, he could go back to jail, as well as face more charges, the judge told him.

“Do you understand that?” the judge asked.

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AUSTRALIA
CathNews

Despite revelations of coarsely worded text messages by Peter Slipper, a leading member of his church says he would be welcomed back as a priest, reports PerthNow.

Mr Slipper was ordained as a priest of the Traditional Anglican Communion in 2008.

The TAC is a legitimate, international Anglican alliance, often described as a breakaway group but seeking, above all, reunification with the Vatican in respect of the 16th century split with the Catholic Church.

The church’s Archbishop John Hepworth said his friend was facing his darkest days in the wake of “grotty” sexual harassment allegations.

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UNITED STATES
What They Knew

In a verbal joust between Jerry Sandusky and Jesuit child abusers who would win?

Let’s find out.

There is a surprising connection between the Jesuits and Penn State which we will reveal later. Stay Tuned.

Quotes on the day Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison for child sexual abuse:

“In my heart I did not do these alleged disgusting acts.” — Jerry Sandusky, in remarks to the court during the sentencing hearing.

“I’ve wiped away a first tear and I’ve seen lives end. I’ve forgiven, I’ve been forgiven. I’ve comforted others, I’ve been comforted. I’ve been kissed by dogs, I’ve been bit by dogs. … I’ve been a fighter. I’ve conformed. I’ve also been different. I’ve been me. I’ve been loved, I’ve been hated. I’ve lived long enough to cherish many memories. And I have a card in my room with the word ‘Hope’ on it. I cling to that card.” — Sandusky during his remarks during the hearing.

Now for the Jesuit Response

“Your Honor, you are looking at an innocent man, innocent of these heinous crimes, disgusting, of which I was accused and for which I stand convicted here before you, awaiting your sentence… I am humbled when I think of the company of saints I’m called to join here.”

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org – Assignment Record

Summary of Case: Bro. Roger C. Argencourt, also known as Bro. Odillion, was a Sacred Heart Brother of the New England Province who admitted to abusing two boys at Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua, NH. He reportedly raped and molested one of the boys as many as 40 times, once in front of another teacher. Argencourt could not be charged because the statutes of limitations had expired. Authorities in RI were preparing to file charges regarding alleged abuse at Mount Saint Charles Academy in Woonsocket when Argencourt died on Sept. 23, 2002.

First Vows: 1959
Final Vows: 1965
Died: Sept. 23, 2002

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

Editorial

Yesterday helped.

The sentencing of former PennState assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and its accompanying media coverage sharpen the focus of the criminality of sexual abuse and its consequences for society at large.

Nothing returns a sexual abuse victim’s normal childhood and for their testimonies about what was so viciously and cruelly taken from them, the survivors of Jerry Sandusky deserves everyone’s gratitude for their courage.

Justice has been served but no one should believe that this solves the problem of sexual abuse in sports – or in the Roman Catholic Church and other denominations – or in the Boy Scouts. Secretive, powerful, hero worship laden organizations are fertile ground for perpetrators.

Children are protected only when strong, clear messages, like the Sandusky sentence, are sent. Then and only then will those who have been raped and sodomized feel that there will be more comfort than censure from the world if they do find the strength to come forward.

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NIEDERLANDE
taz

ARNHEIM taz | Kinder und Jugendliche, die aus ihren Familien herausgenommen und in Heimen erzogen wurden, wurden mehr als doppelt so häufig sexuell missbraucht als solche, die in ihren Familien aufgewachsen sind. Die zuständigen Behörden wussten, dass Minderjährige nicht ausreichend geschützt waren vor sexuellen Übergriffen.

Das sind die Ergebnisse der Untersuchungskommission Samson. Sie hat am Montag in den Niederlanden ihren Abschlussbericht über sexuellen Missbrauch in stattlichen Einrichtungen und Pflegefamilien veröffentlicht.

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SCHWEIZ
ref.ch

Von: ref.ch News/kipa

Das unerwartet grosse Echo auf die Pfarrei-Initiative Schweiz zeigt, «unter welcher Spannung die katholische Kirche derzeit steht». Dies betont die vierköpfige Sprechergruppe in einer Medienmitteilung vom 10. Oktober.

Gegenwärtig haben über 340 Seelsorger und Seelsorgerinnen die am 10. September erstmals öffentlich vorgestellte Initiative unterschrieben. Auch zählt das Begehren derzeit über 180 Sympathisanten.

Wer die Pfarrei-Initiative als «Aufruf zum Ungehorsam» interpretiere, der habe die Initianten missverstanden, heisst es in der Medienmitteilung. Die Initiative wolle nämlich «ein Aufruf zu Ehrlichkeit und Wahrhaftigkeit» sein. Es werde jedoch offensichtlich, «dass wir als Kirche auch einen Dialog zum Gehorsam gegenüber dem Gewissen nötig haben».

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DEUTSCHLAND
netzwerkeB

Das Bundesministerium verteilt Geldmittel für Studien im Rahmen der Fördermaßnahme “Missbrauch, Vernachlässigung und Gewalt”.

Eine Übersicht der Verteilung der Geldmittel findet sich hier:
http://www.gesundheitsforschung-bmbf.de/de/4543.php

Beteiligung von Opfern

Es wird um die Teilnahme geworben, auch werden ein paar Euro für die Teilnehmer geboten. Bei der Universität Heidelberg geht es zum Beispiel um Substanzmissbrauch und um das Anzeigeverhalten der Opfer.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Regensburg-Digital

Erst Messwein und Hostien, dann Freibier und Bratwurst: Gerhard Ludwig Müller ist am Sonntag nun offiziell aus Regensburg verabschiedet worden. Er hinterlässt eine Diözese mit einschlägigem Ruf.

Er ist nicht eben frenetisch der Applaus, der auf dem Domplatz aufbrandet, als der frisch ernannte Großinquisitor kurz nach 17 Uhr mit seiner Entourage aus Bischöfen, Fahnenträgern von Kolping bis hin zu diversen Burschenschaften und natürlich der nicht wegzudenkenden Domspatzen über den Vorplatz am Regensburger Dom vorbeizieht. Rasch stimmt die Blaskapelle zu einem mitreißenden Marsch („So klingt’s aus Stadt und Land“) an. Bei den Bischofshof-Ständen wird mit der Verteilung von Freibier, Kaffee und Bratwurstsemmeln begonnen. Das lockt auch den einen oder anderen Nicht-Katholiken.

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DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

Unter den genannten „rund 30“ Weihejubilaren von 1962 befindet sich mindestens ein der Vertuschung sexuellen „Missbrauchs“ bezichtigter Priester.

Die Jubiläumsberichte im Trierischen Volksfreund (9.10.2012) und auf der Homepage des Bistums (Bistumspressestelle 5.10.2012) verschweigen diesen und weitere prekäre Fakten. Erneut wurde die Perspektive der Opfer unterschlagen – eine kommentierungsbedürftige Auslassung: durch vorliegende Zeugen- u. Opferaussagen wurde das Bistum Trier wohlinformiert über die krassen Sexualvergehen namhaft gemachter „Täter“ dieses und nachfolgender Weihejahrgänge der 1960er Jahre. In seiner Predigt zum Festtage aber würdigte Bischof Ackermann die Verdienste der Jubilare in höchsten Tönen, er sprach sogar von „ausgeprägten Persönlichkeiten“.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Wednesday October 10 2012

Public relations should never become central to how the Catholic Church goes about its business.

What it believes and espouses should always come before how its spins or delivers its message.

But there are obvious presentational pitfalls that it should avoid and the badgering of an ageing liberal priest has to be questioned.

The silenced Redemptorist and Association of Catholic Priests founder, Fr Tony Flannery, has come under increased scrutiny and pressure from the new head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by Phyllis Zagano | Oct. 10, 2012
Just Catholic

I think it was the late Jeane Kirkpatrick, a former UN ambassador and sharp-tongued conservative, who said it. True quote or not, the thought remains: “There’s no shortage of people willing to spend a week in Paris talking about poverty.”

Now 262 bishops and 94 hand-picked others are spending three weeks in Rome talking about evangelization.

Pasta, anyone?

The 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith” will cost who-knows-what and give the various attendees an opportunity to talk about talking about church. Seven of the bishops and 10 experts and auditors are from the United States. The entire crowd presents all the outlooks in the church from right to far right.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Ruben Rosario
twincities.com
Posted: 10/09/2012

It’s time to start holding people other than the predator accountable for the rapes and sexual molestation of children.

I’m talking here about those whose instinct is to protect the institution and its reputation rather than protecting children. Examples abound this week and in recent months.

On Tuesday, Oct. 9, former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to a 30- to 60-year prison term — by normal estimates a life stint, considering he’s 68 — for sexually molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period while operating on the side a foundation for underprivileged children. …

Sandusky’s sentencing followed Monday’s charges against a former drama teacher and “dorm parent” at elite Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault, Minn. Lynn Seibel, 70, is facing charges he sexually assaulted at least six former students during his 10-year teaching stint at the school. Again, what’s intriguing here is the alleged conduct of school officials in the aftermath of Seibel’s resignation in 2003 after not one or two but 14,000 child porn pictures were found on his work computer.

Shattuck-St. Mary’s said Monday that “after consultation with the school’s attorneys, the school confirmed that the material did not trigger a reporting requirement.” As a result, police were never notified.

Perhaps, the school needs to add a criminal justice course to its curriculum. Possession of child pornography is a federal crime. School officials are mandated reporters of suspected child abuse. You don’t need to be a vice cop to understand that possession of child pornography by a person with access to children or in a position of trust and authority over children is a volatile mix and more than reason enough to open a case.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Police have accused the Catholic Church in Victoria of hindering its efforts to investigate child abuse by clergy.

The damning assessment of the Catholic Church’s conduct is contained in a submission Victoria Police has made to a state parliamentary inquiry into child abuse.

It says the Church appears to have dissuaded victims from reporting child sex abuse, alerted suspects to allegations and either moved or protected offenders who were known or suspected of committing sexual offending against children.

Police say one of the Church’s own complaint systems, the Melbourne Response, has been detrimental to police investigations into those suspected of sexually abusing children.

Police have also criticised the role played by the church’s lead investigator Peter O’Callaghan QC.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

October 11, 2012

Barney Zwartz

THIS IS the worst nightmare made real for the Catholic Church, its careful defences of its handling of clergy sexual abuse reduced to ruins by Victoria Police.

The police submission to the parliamentary inquiry explodes the careful strategy the church has run for years that, yes, it had made terrible mistakes, but these have been corrected by new protocols since 1996, and they can be trusted.

But the police say that even after 1996 the church hindered police investigations, protected paedophile priests and never reported a single complaint to police.

Despite constant church claims that all victims are encouraged to go to police, the police submission suggests that in fact, many are dissuaded from doing so and that the church’s independent commissioner, Peter O’Callaghan QC, has a conflict of interest. Where the church says abuse has almost disappeared – only 13 of the 618 confirmed cases the church admitted to in its submission to the inquiry occurred after 1990 – the police suspect the victims have merely been slow to come forward, in the usual pattern.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

October 11, 2012

Jane Lee

VICTORIA Police has launched a scathing attack on the Catholic Church, accusing it of deliberately impeding its investigations into child abuse.

In a submission to the parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by churches, signed by Chief Commissioner Ken Lay, police recommend that some of the church’s actions to hinder investigations be criminalised.

The submission lists a number of ways in which the church has hindered the criminal justice process, including dissuading victims of sexual crimes from reporting them to police, failing to engage with police and alerting suspects of allegations against them, ”which may have resulted in loss of evidence”.

It says the church moved or protected known or suspected sexual offenders. While the submission notes the church has recently improved co-operation with police, in some cases it has been reluctant to provide information even when a warrant was issued.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Stuart Rintoul
From:The Australian
October 11, 201212:00AM

THE Catholic Church says it is committed to facing up to a shameful history of child abuse by priests, and has admitted it was slow to respond, slow to believe victims and wrongly believed the denials of “predators”.

But Victoria Police has accused the church of hindering investigations in its submission to the Victorian government inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other non-government organisations.

VicPol says it had “serious concerns” about the church’s internal inquiry process, which had resulted in a number of ex gratia payments to victims, but not a single referral to police.

Recurring issues included the church appearing to dissuade victims from reporting allegations to police, alerting suspects of allegations and the movement or protection of known or suspected offenders.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Garry O’Sullivan

Wednesday October 10 2012

A HIGH-PROFILE priest is coming under increasing scrutiny from the Vatican’s theological watchdog for expressing liberal views.

Silenced Redemptorist and Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) founder Fr Tony Flannery has been contacted by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the Irish Independent can reveal.

It emerged earlier this year that Fr Flannery was silenced by the Vatican and put under investigation for his “liberal” views on women’s ordination.

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NEDERLAND
NOS

Mattijs van de Wiel sprak met Rieke Samson, die onderzoek heeft gedaan naar seksueel misbruik in de Jeugdzorg.

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NETHERLANDS
Radio Netherlands

The Samson Committee investigating the abuse of children in state care in the Netherlands since 1945 is accusing the entire system—from the government to the foster care service to care homes themselves—of failing to do enough to protect children against sexual abuse.

In releasing its final report Monday, tellingly titled “Surrounded by care, still not safe”, the Committee said it would send 42 sexual abuse files to public prosecutors for consideration—this out of the 800 claims it received in the two years since it’s been investigating sexual abuse cases of children in care.

“We don’t have any insight into the criteria they used for sending cases to the public prosecutor, but they must have reason to think they can still make cases after all these years,” says Jolien Verweij, spokesperson for the Dutch NGO Defence for Children International. “But any chance to do something is good.”

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BELGIE
De Standaard

Yves Delepeleire

BRUSSEL – De arbitragecommissie maakt slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik in de Kerk monddood door hen te verplichten afstand te doen van een proces voor schuldig verzuim, zegt Renaat Landuyt (SP.A).

Nu door het Centrum voor Arbitrage aan de eerste slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik in een pastorale relatie een schadevergoeding wordt toegekend, blijkt er discussie te rijzen over de contracten.

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BELGIUM
The Front Page

An independent arbitration commission established by the Belgian parliament in 2010, in order to process compensation claims for child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, is accused of silencing the victims. It obliges those who are awarded damages never to speak publicly of the facts and never to sue the Church. Socialist MP Renaat Landuyt accuses church officials on the commission to have lobbied for this. Original article in De Standaard

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HAMMOND (IL)
NWI Times

By Chelsea Schneider Kirk
chelsea.schneider@nwi.com, (219) 933-3241

HAMMOND | Layoffs have hit the First Baptist Church of Hammond with a quarter of the church’s staff estimated to be let go, a church spokesman confirmed Tuesday.

The layoffs come in the wake of a federal guilty plea by the church’s former head Pastor Jack Schaap, who admitted to a sexual relationship with an underage parish girl he had been counseling.

Church officials said incoming donations to the parish have been “pretty much the same” since the July firing of Schaap.

However, church leaders decided to wrap an approximately $1 million per year loan payment into its budget, which forced the layoffs, said Eddie Lapina, the church’s interim pastor.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

Kansas City Star reporter Judy L. Thomas has been named the Religion Reporter of the Year for metropolitan newspapers.

The award was announced at the Religion Newswriters Association’s 2012 annual conference in Bethesda, Md.

Thomas was recognized for her coverage of a priest sex abuse scandal involving Father Shawn Ratigan, Bishop Robert Finn and the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese, and stories about the Rev. Jerry Johnston and the former First Family Church of Overland Park.

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UNITED STATES
What They Knew

We here at What They Knew have a lot of stories to tell. We have child sex abuse by clergy and the ensuing coverup, dirty real estate deals, police investigations, crooked politicians and attorneys, private investigators hunting victims, diversion of federal funds, funny loans from colleges run by Jesuits, off-shore shell companies, wire transfers to the Cayman Islands and in the end lots of money and lots of victims of the Jesuits.

We also have Donald J. McGuire SJ at the heart of it all. McGuire knew many people, many of which want to pretend they didn’t know him. He knew hundreds of priests (many of them also convicted of child sex abuse – we believe they call that a “ring” of criminals). He also knew many people who knew what he was doing to children and never called the police. That list includes bishops, Provincials, Jesuit Roma Curia, Jesuit Generals, Cardinals, the head of the Legionaries of Christ Marcial Maciel (more later on this), at least three candidates for sainthood and two Popes, who knew him personally, one who then simply wrote to him as “Your Friend, Joe Ratzinger“.

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CANADA
Times-Colonist

By Jeff Bell, timescolonist.com October 9, 2012

Leona Huggins travelled to Victoria from the Lower Mainland on Tuesday to follow an alleged case of child abuse by a priest.

Huggins, a 50-year-old Coquitlam teacher, said the Victoria case hit close to home: her own past involves abuse by a priest in the 1970s, when she was a teenager. That man was eventually convicted in 1992 after pleading guilty and served 10 months in prison, but Huggins found out last year that her abuser had re-emerged in a parish across the country.

Discovering that he had been “recycled” by the church was devastating, Huggins said.

“It sort of threw me back to the beginning.”

The situation prompted her to speak up, Huggins told members of the media outside the Victoria courthouse. She said she hoped that making her voice heard would help children.

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WASHINGTON
The Spokesman-Review

John Stucke
The Spokesman-Review

The Catholic Diocese of Spokane has accused its own lawyers of mishandling its historic bankruptcy, which exposed decades of clergy sex abuse and cost parishioners and insurers $50 million.

A malpractice lawsuit filed this week by the diocese seeks more than $12 million from the venerable Spokane law firm Paine Hamblen Coffin Brooke and Miller.

The claim is the latest bombshell in a bankruptcy that staggered along from December 2004 until May. The diocese settled with 180 people who claimed they were sexually abused by priests and other Catholic clergy.

The diocese, now under the leadership of Bishop Blase Cupich, says in court documents that bankruptcy lawyers Shaun Cross and Greg Arpin failed to explore other means of ending the abuse scandal.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Channel 4 – Gurublog

Jimmy Savile was my first ever interviewee when I became presenter of the BBC’s “yoof” discussion programme Open to Question. I was 18, rather naive and had not heard the rumours of his sexual preferences.

But he was a big disappointment: cold, aggressive, slightly menacing in his reaction to tough questions from teenagers in the audience – and I’ve never forgotten the creepy feeling he left me with.

The format of Open to Question was simple – a group of teenagers, encouraged to ask cheeky and tough questions, grill a public figure with questions that professional interviewers tend to avoid.

At school I had been one of the cheeky questioners, and now the BBC had asked me to step into the presenter’s chair. Jimmy Savile had a mixed reputation in those days – he was well-known as a charity fundraiser and supporter of Stoke Mandeville hospital. But his support for psychiatric patients like the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe was more controversial.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Inquirer

Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania said Tuesday that he would retire at the end of the year.

Bennison, 68, a supporter of gay clergy and same-sex marriage, was elevated to his position in 1998. His tenure has been marked by many controversies over his support of gay rights and disputes over church property. He was suspended for mishandling his brother’s sex abuse of a teen girl in the 1970s, but was reinstated.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Sky News

Sir Jimmy Savile’s gravestone is going to be broken up and dumped after being removed from a cemetery in Scarborough amid new sexual abuse claims.

Scotland Yard says up to 25 young girls were allegedly targeted by the late television star over a period dating back to 1959.

His family said it took the decision to remove his headstone, which bears Savile’s image and lists his accomplishments, as a mark of respect to others buried in the cemetery. It had only been in place for three weeks. …

There have also been calls for Saville to have his papal knighthood removed – although as for the civil order it also ceases to exist after death. He was awarded this in 1990, the same year as he was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

A spokesperson for the Catholic Church in England and Wales told Sky News: “If the allegations prove to be true and the Church had known about it at the time, the papal knighthood would not have been awarded.”

The NSPCC is urging anyone abused or harmed by Savile to speak out and contact them and the police.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Dan Sabbagh
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 10 October 2012

The BBC is preparing to launch its own inquiry into the Jimmy Savile affair, after criticism of its slow response to the unfolding scandal and claims that the Jim’ll Fix It star was apparently able to get away with sexual abuse over several decades.

The inquiry is expected to begin before the end of the year, once the police have given the green light to the BBC that any separate activity by the broadcaster will not compromise the developing Metropolitan police investigation, which, it emerged on Tuesday, is pursuing 120 lines of inquiry involving rape and sexual abuse.

An announcement about the planned review is likely to be made by the BBC today, but with few other details. A independent person will lead the review – although the BBC is less likely to be ready to unveil a name today. Its exact terms of reference are likely to be announced in a few days.

It has taken a week and half since the first cluster of allegations about Savile emerged for the BBC to confirm something approaching an inquiry into its former star’s conduct, its context and what lessons the corporation can learn from the torrent of revelations about him and claims about the wider culture at the corporation of the time.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Posted by
Roy Greenslade
Wednesday 10 October

With the BBC taking a bashing from the tabloids over the Jimmy Savile affair, Michael White wonders why the “tough tabloids” themselves didn’t nail the man.

It’s a fair question. After all, many people have said Savile’s predilection for young girls was something of an open secret. Former Sunday Express editor Brian Hitchen admitted knowing about it 45 years ago.

He was not alone. There were plenty of rumours. We all thought Savile was weird and probably up to no good. As White writes: “I always thought he was a dodgy bugger.”

But what about evidence as distinct from suspicion? Would any of it have been good enough as a defence should Savile have sued for libel?

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

The Roman Catholic Church will consider stripping Jimmy Savile of his papal knighthood after a police review confirmed that he was a prolific sex offender who travelled the country abusing young girls.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales said that the knighthood Savile was granted in 1990 by the late Pope John Paul II “may have to be reviewed” after the police had considered all the evidence against the dead star.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

ABC
October 10, 2012

Police have accused the Catholic Church in Victoria of hindering its efforts to investigate child abuse by clergy.

The damning assessment of the Catholic Church’s conduct is contained in a submission Victoria Police has made to a state parliamentary inquiry into child abuse.

It says the Church appears to have dissuaded victims from reporting child sex abuse, alerted suspects to allegations and either moved or protected offenders who were known or suspected of committing sexual offending against children.

Police say one of the Church’s own complaint systems, the Melbourne Response, has been detrimental to police investigations into those suspected of sexually abusing children.

Police have also criticised the role played by the church’s lead investigator Peter O’Callaghan QC.

They say his methods have effectively dissuaded victims from going to authorities.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

Deliberate actions by religious institutions to hide child sex abuse allegations rather than expose suspected offenders should be regarded as a crime, Victoria Police says.

In its submission to the Victorian government’s inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations, Victoria Police says it is concerned the Catholic Church, instead of encouraging sex abuse victims to go to the police, is providing a financial incentive to keep the matter within the church.

In the past 15 years more than 30 religious leaders have been convicted of child sexual offences in Victoria.

Police have had recurring problems in dealing with religious organisations, such as victims of sexual crime being talked out of reporting to police and suspected offenders being moved to a different diocese or sent overseas.

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

By Dr Wendel Abel

I write this article in response to the extensive concerns regarding sexual abuse in the Church and the wider society.

It is important to discuss abuse within the Church for the following reasons:

1. Church leaders have been accused of sexual abuse.

2. Abuse takes place in families that are very active within the Church and, when it does, the Church should take appropriate steps to deal with the matter.

3. Many churches do not handle sexual abuse issues very well. They force the victim into silence and press for forgiveness without allowing the victim the opportunity for therapy and healing.

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CHILE
Catholic News Agency

Vatican City, Oct 9, 2012 / 04:03 pm (CNA).- On Oct. 9, Pope Benedict accepted the resignation of Bishop Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernadez of Iquique, Chile, who has been under investigation by the Vatican since April for alleged sexual abuse.

The Holy See’s Press Office said the bishop resigned in conformity with a specific code in canon law, which allows for resignation “because of ill health or some other grave cause.”

The Apostolic Nunciature in Chile also announced that Archbishop Pablo Lizama Riquelme of Antofagasta has been named Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Iquique.

On Oct. 2, the Nunciature confirmed that the Vatican was investigating Bishop Ordenes.

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CANADA
North Bay Nugget

By MARIA CALABRESE, North Bay Nugget

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

NORTH BAY – A Roman Catholic priest faces more charges of historical sexual abuse while serving at a North Bay church, court heard Tuesday.

John Edward Sullivan, 87, remains in hospital in Montreal where he lives, and did not have to appear for his latest court date.

Sullivan is accused of sexually abusing a boy dating back to 1958 and during various times until 1979 while he was an ordained priest at the Pro-Cathedral of the Assumption.

Sullivan was arrested in June in Montreal on a North Bay warrant for gross indecency following an investigation into a complaint of historical child sexual abuse.

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UNITED STATES
Modesto Bee

By Cynthia Hubert
chubert@sacbee.com

They were as close as brothers.

The Rev. Uriel Ojeda and the Rev. Angel Perez took their spiritual training together at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon beginning in the late 1990s, and they shared a bond forged by similar cultural backgrounds and spiritual philosophies.

Both had roots in Mexico and ministered to heavily Latino congregations, Ojeda’s in Northern California and Perez’s near Salem in Oregon. Both were revered by their parishioners, who praised them for their tireless work on behalf of children and the poor and sick.

Both entered the priesthood at a time of turmoil in the Catholic Church over sexual-abuse scandals, and as the church eagerly sought to accommodate a growing Spanish-speaking congregation.

In the changing Catholic church, Ojeda and Perez were rising stars.

Until it all fell apart.

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AUSTRALIA
The Telegraph

MELISSA IARIA
AAP
October 10, 2012

AUSTRALIA’S most powerful Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, was present when a boy raped by a Christian Brother described to another priest what happened, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.

The Victorian government’s inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations has been told Cardinal Pell was present when the grade three student at a Ballarat school in the 1960s described to another priest what happened to him.

Cardinal Pell may be asked about the incident after indicating in August he will attend the inquiry if asked.

The Archdiocese of Sydney’s communications office spokeswoman said it cannot comment while an inquiry is under way.

The victim, a student at St Alipius school in Ballarat, was raped by principal and teacher Christian Brother Robert Charles Best in 1969.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

NEW “STAR WARS” GAME, DR. HELEN NASH DEAD AT 91, SEN. SCOTT BROWN IN OUR TOWN

. . .That was noted journalist Brendan Roberts of Nine Network poking around various Catholic charities in our town the other day. He and his cameraman were trying to track down Marianist Brother Bernard Hartman who’s on the rum from secular authorities for alleged child sex crimes. As recently as 2008, he was in active ministry, despite having apologized in writing almost a decade earlier to a girl he’s molested. Parishioners in Dayton, Ohio, his last residence, told Roberts that Hartman is now living at a church property in St. Louis. . .

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CALIFORNIA
Courthouse News Service

By JONNY BONNER

(CN) – A California man claims in court that the Catholic priest who abused him as a child had been previously singled out for “pedophilic” tendencies.

The plaintiff named in the complaint as John C.C. Doe says he is a 24-year-old resident of Sacramento, Calif.

Michael Kelly, as pastor of St. Andrew Parish in San Andreas, sexually abused Doe for three years beginning in 2000, according to the complaint in San Joaquin County Superior Court.

Doe says he was a 12-year-old altar boy when Kelly started visiting his home “unannounced and uninvited.”

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VATICAN CITY
Saanich News

By Staff Writer – Saanich News
Published: October 09, 2012

The trial of a former priest charged with molesting minors will start next week if the case can move past a number of procedural hurdles.

Philip Jacobs, 62, appeared in Victoria Supreme Court this morning, charged with sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference of a person under 14 and touching a young person for a sexual purpose.

The charges involve three minors under the age of 14, with alleged incidents spanning September 1996 to June 2001, all within Saanich. Jacobs was arrested Aug. 4, 2010 and released on $25,000 bail.

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FLORIDA
ABC News

By ALYSSA NEWCOMB (@alyssanewcomb)

Oct. 9, 2012

The Penn State scandal helped shape a new Florida sexual abuse reporting law that has been called the toughest in the nation, holding universities and individuals financially and criminally liable for failure to report suspected abuse.

Under the law, which went into effect Oct. 1, colleges and universities that “knowingly and willfully” fail to report known or suspected child abuse or prevent another person from doing so will be slapped with a $1 million fine for each failure.

“We learned is we didn’t want to take a chance on [them],” said Ron Book, president of Lauren’s Kids, a nonprofit that helped spearhead the legislation.

That began with mandating schools report all allegations, not just conduct their own investigations. Book pointed to allegations from Penn State, Syracuse University and The Citadel that were known to administrators but not reported to authorities.

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VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

By NICOLE WINFIELD 10/09/12

VATICAN CITY — The pope on Tuesday accepted the resignation of a Chilean bishop who is under investigation by the Vatican for the alleged sexual abuse of a minor.

The resignation of Bishop Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernandez of Iquique, Chile, marks one of the few times that the Vatican has acknowledged publicly that it was investigating a bishop for sex abuse allegations. Advocates for clerical sex abuse victims have long complained that the Vatican has looked the other way when bishops have been accused of abuse or of covering it up.

The Vatican said Tuesday that the pope has accepted Ordenes’ resignation under the code of canon law that says a bishop must resign if he is sick or because some other “grave” reason makes him unsuitable for his job.

The 47-year-old Ordenes suffers from a liver ailment and has been seeking medical treatment. But the Vatican Embassy in Santiago confirmed Oct. 2 that it had been investigating Ordenes since April, and was offering psychological and other care to “those affected.”

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said that the link between the resignation and the investigation “can be considered obvious.”

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
dotCommonweal

October 9, 2012

Posted by Rita Ferrone

I’ve been waiting to read that the newly-installed Archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, has offered a warm and sincere apology to the Episcopal Bishop of San Francisco, Marc Andrus. But as of today, I’m still waiting.

Here’s what happened, as far as published sources have revealed it. Andrus issued a letter
to his own people, dated the first of October, stating that he looks forward to working with Cordileone on issues of common concern. He cited global development and immigration as especially pressing subjects on which they would join in making common cause. He acknowledges their differences over Proposition 8 (gay marriage) and promises that his own stand will remain firm. In light of the obvious disquiet among some over Cordileone’s appointment, he reminds his people in closing to “welcome as brothers and sisters” any who might turn up on the doorstep of the Episcopal Church. I found his message charitable, sober, and honest.

Bishop Andrus had been invited to the installation, which was held on October 4 at 2:00. He was told that he must arrive by 1:45 in order to be seated. He arrived, by his own account, at 1:40, and waited, chatting with some Orthodox bishops. The Orthodox were led away, and he was told to remain waiting. Two o’clock arrived and he was still waiting. It became evident to him that he was not going to be seated. He left. A spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese claimed that Andrus arrived late, and was not seated so as to not disturb the ceremony. Andrus’s own account clearly denies this.

The incident has been reported in the Huffington Post, CNN, the website of the Episcopal Church of San Francisco, US Catholic, NCR, and a number of news sources and blogs since that time. Conspicuous by its absence is any statement from Cordileone, clarifying the matter.

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ROME
We Are Church

French

German

Italian

Portugese

Spanish

Press Conference

Rome, Oct 9, 2012

On the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Opening of the Second Vatican Council, the International Movement We Are Church (IMWAC) and the European Network Church on the Move (EN/RE), Witness to and Hope for a Church Ever More Free and Human, Built on Communities of Baptized Christians Deeply Committed to Ministry in the Church and Justice in the World

1. The Second Vatican Council endorsed a profound renovation of the Catholic Church, both in its own structures and in its relationship to the world. The transformation in the liturgy was one of the central and most visible fruits of the Council, especially in its use of vernacular languages and its celebration based on the local community. The constitutions “Lumen Gentium” and “Gaudium et Spes” contain definitions of the Church itself (now seen as the People of God) and of the value of the secular world and how we might minister to it.

2. The encyclical “Pacem in Terris”, written by John XXIII while the Council was in session and, indeed, while he was dying, must be considered a part of the whole conciliar experience. Other very important questions were proposed with new perspectives: ecumenism, inter-religious dialogue, liberty of freedom and of conscience. These documents most especially generated the progressive movement that exists in the Church today and invited a dialogue with the Magisterium on all issues that are part of Catholic life.

3. During the last fifty years a tension has developed concerning the proper interpretation of the Council and its application to contemporary concerns. This tension was already present in the documents of the Council itself: for some, the Council called for significant change; for others, continuity was paramount.

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National Catholic Reporter

by John L. Allen Jr. | Oct. 9, 2012

As the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization wraps up its second day of work, participants today got two fresh reminders of just how steep a hill they face — one that speaks to a tough external climate for the church’s message, and the other reflecting divisions within the Catholic community itself.

Today, the Pew Forum released a new study showing that the number of Americans who have no religious affiliation is at an all-time high, including a full third of Americans under the age of 30. This cohort of “nones” is, in percentage terms, the most rapidly swelling movement on the American religious landscape.

Also today, “We Are Church,” the most visible Catholic reform group in Europe, issued a new call for “profound renovations” in church structures and its relationship to the world, including a more “collegial and democratic church”, “gender equity and the acceptance of diverse sexual orientations,” and “the ordination of women and married people.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Tom Roberts | Oct. 9, 2012

Bethesda, Md. —
Alexis de Tocqueville’s 19th-century observation that “the Christian religion” had a greater influence on America than any other country in the world might still be true, but if he were visiting today, he’d find Americans dropping their formal religious affiliations in unprecedented numbers.

In the last five years, the number of people who claim no religious affiliation has increased from slightly more than 15 percent to just under 20 percent of all U.S. adults, according to a new study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, one of seven projects that make up the Pew Research Center. The study was done in partnership with the PBS program “Religion & Ethics Newsweekly.”

According to the report, titled “ ‘Nones’ on the Rise,” the almost 20 percent (33 million people) who are unaffiliated include 13 million self-described atheists and agnostics, or almost 6 percent of the U.S. population. …

How long denominations will be around to provide such benefits is the question. In fact, the only religious groups to remain relatively unchanged are Black Protestant (8 percent), other minority Protestant (6 percent), Orthodox (1 percent), Mormon (2 percent) and Catholic (23 percent). The stability in the Catholic population has largely to do with the influx of Latin American immigrants, previous Pew studies have documented.

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VATICAN CITY
Yahoo! News

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict accepted the resignation on Tuesday of a bishop in Chile accused of sexually abusing a minor, the latest in a series of such scandals to rock the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican did not specify the reason for the resignation of Bishop Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernandez of the city of Iquique but it followed a complaint by a local man, Rodrigo Pino, who said he had been abused by the prelate when he was 15.

The Vatican, as it has done in similar cases, said only that the resignation was in conformity with an article of Church law which says bishops must step down if they are unable to fulfill their duties because of health or “another serious reason”. …

Ordenes’ resignation as bishops from around the world met at the Vatican to discuss how to woo back lapsed Catholics in developed countries, where the Church is battling increasing secularism in places where it was once strong.

Many Catholics say they have left the Church in disgust over the sexual abuse scandals of the last 12 years.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.comtwincities.com
Posted: 10/09/2012

Prosecutors who charged a local priest with child sex abuse now allege he also possessed child pornography.

The Ramsey County attorney’s office charged Curtis Carl Wehmeyer, a priest formerly assigned to Blessed Sacrament Church on the East Side of St. Paul, with 17 counts of possession of child pornography.

Wehmeyer, 48, of Oakdale, will make his first court appearance on both sets of charges Wednesday, Oct. 10.

In the criminal complaint filed Tuesday, Oct. 9, in Ramsey County District Court, prosecutors alleged the following:

During the investigation of the alleged sexual abuse, two boys reported that Wehmeyer showed them pornography on a laptop computer. This would happen before and during the molestation, they said.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JOY POWELL , Star Tribune
Updated: October 9, 2012

Court documents say the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer kept 17 pornographic images of boys in the rectory.

A priest who had been charged with criminal sexual misconduct has been charged again with 17 counts of possessing child pornography, Ramsey County authorities said Tuesday.

The Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, 48, of Oakdale, was removed as pastor of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in St. Paul in June amid an investigation into child sex assault.

During the summer of 2010, Wehmeyer allegedly brought two young brothers to his camper trailer, parked in the lot of the church, and showed the boys, then 12 and 14, pornographic movies. He gave them alcohol and marijuana as he allegedly molested one and exposed himself to the other, according to the complaint filed in late September.

After he was arrested in June at the church rectory, Wehmeyer saw the boys’ mother and told her that he intended to plead guilty.

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MINNESOTA
KSTC

Additional charges have been filed against a former St. Paul pastor who is accused of abusing two young boys.

According to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, Curtis Carl Wehmeyer was charged with 15 counts of possession of child pornography.

After conducting a forensic exam on a seized laptop, investigators found a number of “still images and video clips depicting sex acts involving prepubescent males”.

Wehmeyer was previously charged with criminal sexual conduct after he was accused of molesting one boy and exposing himself to another.

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ST. PAUL (MN)
KMSP

Posted: Oct 09, 2012

by Mike Durkin

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) –
Additional charges of child pornography have been filed against a former St. Paul priest accused of sexually abusing two young brothers.

Curtis Carl Wehmeyer, 48, has been charged in Ramsey County with 15 counts of possession of child pornography. Those charges come on top of second and fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct charges filed last month for the alleged sexual abuse of two boys who were part of Blessed Sacrament Catholic parish in St. Paul.

Wehmeyer will make his first appearance on all charges Wednesday afternoon in Ramsey District Court.

According to the criminal complaint, a search warrant was executed on the rectory of the church as part of the sexual abuse investigation. After conducting a forensic exam on a seized laptop, investigators found a number of “still images and video clips depicting sex acts involving prepubescent males”.

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LAS VEGAS (NV)
KLAS

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Clark County district attorney’s office is fighting a judge’s decision to name a veteran Las Vegas defense lawyer to prosecute a former storefront church pastor accused of sexually assaulting at least four young girls in his Las Vegas-area congregation.

Court records show that attorney Robert Langford was named Friday to replace the Clark County district attorney’s office in former United Faith Church leader Otis Holland’s case.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson wants Judge Stefany Miley to reconsider.

Miley named Langford because before becoming district attorney, Wolfson was Holland’s criminal defense lawyer.

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ROM
Kipa-Apic

Rom, 9.10.12 (Kipa) Der Vorsitzende des Europäischen Bischofsrates (CCEE), Kardinal Peter Erdö, sieht in Europa “besorgniserregende Anzeichen” für eine “systematische Christenfeindlichkeit”. Es seien viele Fälle von Diskriminierung und Gewalt gegen Christen zu registrieren, sagte Erdö am Montagnachmittag während der Weltbischofsynode im Vatikan. Diese beträfen fast alle europäischen Länder.

Zugleich kritisierte der Budapester Kardinal eine oft verzerrte Darstellung des christlichen Glaubens und der katholischen Kirche in den Massenmedien. Diese präsentierten den Inhalt des Glaubens und die kirchliche Wirklichkeit häufig auf verleumderische Weise, so Erdö. Der Kardinal gab zu Beginn der Synode einen Überblick über die gegenwärtige Lage der Kirche und des Glaubens in Europa.

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VATIKAN
Deutschland Today

Vatikanstadt (AFP) – Angesichts des Verdachts auf Missbrauch von Minderjährigen hat Papst Benedikt XVI. den chilenischen Bischof Marco Antonio Órdenes Fernández entlassen. Der Bischof von Iquique habe seinen Rücktritt nach Artikel 401 Paragraph 2 des Kanonischen Rechts eingereicht, erklärte der Vatikan. Dieser Paragraph bezieht sich auf Rücktritte “aus gesundheitlichen oder anderen schweren Gründen”. Órdenes Fernández steht im Verdacht, mindestens zwei Jungen sexuell missbraucht zu haben.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frontal 21

[Video]

Frontal 21 berichtet in der nächsten Sendung unter anderem über falsche Versprechen der Lebensmittelindustrie, Krankenhausärzte mit Prämienvereinbarungen, den Mangel an Erzieherinnen, den Redner Peer Steinbrück sowie über sexuelle Gewalt am Aloisius-Kolleg.

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DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

Mehr als vierzig Jahre lang konnte Quintus D. (Name geändert) nicht darüber sprechen: Er und seine Brüder wurden vom 12. Lebensjahr an von einem Jesuiten-Pater immer wieder vergewaltigt. Am Aloisius-Kolleg in Bonn gab es über Jahrzehnte sexuelle Übergriffe von Priestern und Erziehern gegenüber ihren Schülern. Doch die Taten wurden verschwiegen, berichtet Prof. Julia Zinsmeister, die die Vorgänge am Aloisius-Kolleg untersuchte. Der eigene Ruf sei dem Orden immer wichtiger gewesen als der Schutz der Kinder, sagt Zinsmeister heute. Vor Gericht haben die Opfer kaum Chancen, gegen ihre Peiniger vorzugehen: Die Taten sind verjährt. Jetzt wollen ehemalige Aloisius-Schüler die Bezirksregierung zur Schließung der Schule zwingen und klagen auf Schmerzensgeld.

Es ist aber auch das Kolleg, von dem der ehemalige ARD-Fernsehpfarrer und Kommunikationsdirektor im Bistum Trier, Monsignore Stephan Wahl, behauptet, er habe von den jahrzehntelangen Übergriffen “nie etwas mitbekommen”. Weder als Schüler. Noch als Erzieher.

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NIEDERLANDE
Der Standard (Osterreich)

8. Oktober 2012

Regierungskommission legte Bericht vor

Den Haag – Hunderte Kinder sind in niederländischen Heimen und Pflegefamilien oft jahrelang sexuell missbraucht worden. Das hat eine Regierungskommission in einem am Montag vorgelegten Bericht über Missbrauch in staatlichen Heimen seit 1945 festgestellt. “Ministerien, Heime und Jugendämter haben beim Schutz der Kinder versagt”, sagte die Vorsitzende der Kommission, Rieke Samson, in Den Haag. Der Bericht schockierte die Niederlande.

800 Fälle von sexueller Gewalt waren bei der Kommission gemeldet worden. 42 Fälle wurden der Staatsanwaltschaft übergeben. Opferverbände wollen von den Behörden Schadenersatz fordern.

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